When will we see sodium-ion batteries in EVs?

...and why would we buy one?

There are lots of YouTube videos about sodium-ion batteries developed by CATL with amazing specifications and soon to appear in EVs and stationary storage. For example:

"CATL’s Sodium Battery Mass-Production - Same Energy as LFP, But Lasts 3 Times Longer"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFxUW8S9myk

I asked Google AI what are the disadvantages of sodium-ion batteries, and as usual got misleading information:

Sodium-ion battery disadvantages include lower energy density (making them bulkier for the same power), shorter cycle life/faster degradation due to larger, heavier ions causing more stress on electrodes, slower ion movement, and less mature commercialization/supply chains, though ongoing R&D aims to improve these limitations for cost-sensitive grid storage and low-speed EVs.

..."low-speed EVs"???

Hmmm, OK, ask Google "Advantages of CATL sodium ion batteries":

CATL's sodium-ion batteries offer significant advantages, including lower production costs (potentially 30–40% cheaper than lithium), superior low-temperature performance (over 90% capacity retention at -20°C), and faster charging (80% in 15 minutes). They also provide higher thermal stability, improved safety, and competitive energy densities up to 175 Wh/kg.
Key Advantages of CATL Sodium-Ion Batteries:
Superior Cold-Weather Performance: They operate efficiently in extreme, cold climates, retaining over 90% of their capacity at -20°C, significantly outperforming lithium-ion batteries in winter conditions.
Faster Charging Capability: These batteries can charge to 80% state of charge (SOC) within 15 minutes at room temperature, offering high power density for quick charging applications.
Lower Cost & Abundant Materials: Sodium is much more abundant and cheaper than lithium, reducing dependency on volatile, limited mineral supply chains, which could make them 30–40% cheaper.
High Safety & Stability: Sodium-ion batteries have better thermal stability, reduced fire risks, and improved resistance to over-discharge, making them inherently safer.
Strong Energy Density & Lifecycle: CATL’s next-generation sodium-ion batteries (Naxtra) are achieving energy densities up to 175 Wh/kg—comparable to some Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries—and promise up to 10,000+ cycles, offering a long, durable lifespan for EVs and energy storage.
These batteries are particularly suited for budget-friendly electric vehicles, stationary energy storage, and cold-climate applications.

I asked Google some slightly different questions, and got some wrong answers.

The pro-EV guys haven't mentioned one downside of sodium-ion batteries, the lower efficiency of the charge-discharge cycle. Haven't got the reference now, but I think 85-90%, versus 95% for lithium batteries. Um, maybe that is wrong. I asked Google:

Energy Efficiency (Round Trip): Sodium-ion batteries, in general, offer a high round-trip energy efficiency, with reports indicating up to 92% efficiency.

Another issue is high ambient temperatures. I don't have the figures for lithium batteries, but I recall they struggle, lose capacity, above 40 degrees C. CATLs sodium-ion, on the other hand, asking Google:

CATL's sodium-ion batteries, particularly the next-generation Naxtra series, exhibit exceptional high-temperature performance, reliably operating in environments up to +70°C. These batteries feature improved thermal stability, allowing for consistent power output and reduced reliance on intensive cooling systems compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries.
Key high-temperature performance characteristics include:
Operating Range: Rated for operation between -40°C and +70°C, making them suitable for extreme climates.
Thermal Safety: The chemistry is designed to maintain structural stability at high temperatures, with Naxtra batteries passing rigorous safety certifications (GB 38031-2025).
Performance Stability: The batteries maintain high efficiency and, according to YouTube video, do not exhibit the same performance penalties found in conventional lithium-based chemistries in high heat.
Reduced Cooling Needs: Their robust nature at high temperatures may allow for simplified, lighter battery pack designs (less cooling infrastructure) in electric vehicles.

Google says this about lithium-iron batteries:

High-temperature operation (typically >40°C) in lithium-ion batteries boosts initial power output and reduces internal resistance but rapidly accelerates aging, resulting in significant capacity fade and shorter cycle life. Prolonged heat causes electrolyte decomposition, electrolyte-electrode interface instability, and severe degradation (e.g., 50% life loss at 45°C.

This is very interesting. A battery that works in extreme temperature ranges, won't explode, and will last for over 5 million kilometres, something to look forward to in EVs. Apparently, we will be seeing these EVs on the road in China very soon, Q2 2026.   

Tags: ethos

Solar panels last 40+ years, turbines recycled

I am regularly encountering misinformation about renewable energy, from certain media outlets, and individuals who have either been hoodwinked, or are deliberately spreading misinformation. I try to ignore it, just move on, live a peaceful life without becoming upset.

Anyway, today discovered some very interesting information...

I have previously posted about misinformation regarding solar panels, that they break in hailstorms,  become landfill. Regarding hail, if panels are installed in hailstorm-prone locations, it is just a matter of installing panels certified to withstand the hail. Just from memory, I think panels available in Australia are certified for 25cm (1 inch) diameter hail. But, panels are available that will withstand up to 40-50cm.

At end of life, panels do not have to become landfill; they can be, and are, recycled. Some countries are doing this better than others.

Up until now, I thought that end-of-life is 25 years. However, that is the warranty period of most panels. As this link explains, they can retain 70-80% capacity after 40 years:

Cr*p, lost the link. I went back to the facebook page in the browser, but Facebook refreshed and changed everything. Searched, found it:

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=796483793489045&set=a.225464080591022

Also lost the link that explains modern wind turbine blades can now be recycled. Hmm, anyway, yes, various blade manufacturers are committing to recyclable blades. Ah, found it:

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1348560127312032&set=pb.100064741718845.-2207520000

Great things happening with batteries also, that has to be another post.   

Tags: ethos

More EV misinformation from mainstream media

A couple of months ago, I posted about mainstream media misinformation:

"Coordinated misinformation in mainstream media"
https://bkhome.org/news/202501/coordinated-misinformation-in-mainstream-media.html

Sam has had to contend with another attack, that he has posted about a few days ago:

"Channel 7 Lies Exposed: The Truth About My EV Fight with Australian Media"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwfTZrzAx2c&t=910s

This is all very sad. You guys in the USA would know all about this; bias one way or another, depending on what media outlets you read and watch.

We have it here in Australia also. Often it is almost subliminal. I have become aware of our ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), despite claims of impartiality, slipping in biased messages. For example, when reporting on China, they won't say something like "The Chinese government,,,", instead will say "The communist Chinese government...". Of course they know that "communist" is an emotive word.

I could keep on writing and writing on this topic. Anyway, thought I would just report on this latest attack that Sam has to put up with.  

Tags: ethos

Coordinated misinformation in mainstream media

I have posted about this plenty of times in the "ethos" tag of my blog. I was reminded a few days ago of what major organizations get up to, this video posted by "The Electric Viking":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yockrXllJRE

He is quite brave, an individual guy making these statements. It doesn't matter if he is telling the truth; the truth doesn't have much to do with it if challenged by a huge organization with enormous legal team and deep pockets.

Sky News has been prosecuted for "misleading information", but it seems that they just pay the fine, then don't change. Or so it seems to me. One thing I have noticed is that Sky News is quite cunning, or again so it seems to me; they will interview someone who fits their agenda. That's cunning, because it is not Sky News saying it directly, just the interviewees opinion.

This for example, one of their pet "experts":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZytIe1qaA40

...quite a few statements made there, that I would contend are misleading, but just picking out one; that Chinese solar panels are "garbage".

Actually, yes, the Chinese make solar panels for many different types of buyers, probably including questionable quality. Panels that are used in Australian commercial or industrial projects must meet Australian standards. They are tested in Australia and certified to meet the standard. There are Chinese panels that meet the standards, right up to standards not yet formalized officially in Australia. In other words, the panels are of very high quality.

The minimum requirement is that the glass must withstand "golf ball size hail", and I think from online reading that usually means 25mm (1 inch) diameter. However, the standards go up from there, see here:

https://www.pv-magazine-australia.com/2024/10/26/__trashed/

Recent Australian solar projects have featured bifacial panels with 2 mm-thick front and rear glass. Typically certified to minimum International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) test standards, for 25 mm ice ball resistance, they can usually pass 35 mm hail impact tests. Severe Australian hailstorms have always had 35 mm-plus hailstones and climate change means such events are more frequent and more damaging.

Some laboratories have introduced more stringent, bespoke tests beyond minimum IEC requirements. As a result, some manufacturers are offering customised bill of materials featuring 2.5 mm glass front and rear. This increased glass thickness comes with a weight penalty, but in many cases, the modules can pass a 45 mm hail impact test.

Manufacturers have also released “hail- resistant” modules with 3.2 mm front glass and either 2 mm or 1.6 mm rear glass that can pass 50 mm, and in some cases 55 mm hail impact tests.

Sky News and their pet expert are attacking the green revolution, but the building of solar panels on agricultural land, or using panels that meet appropriate standards for hail expected in the area, are administrative issues.

Yes, if what the interviewee states, that approvals have been bull-dozed through without proper consideration, then he has a point. But again, it comes down to an administrative issue. Any authorities doing the wrong thing should be attacked, not Chinese solar panels, nor the green revolution. The project should be built on degraded land not prime agricultural, and solar panels must be certified to withstand extreme hail events expected in the region.

Awhile back, I was reading about world-leading hail-resistant solar panels made in China. Just now doing a quick search... Chinese SunTech panels are certified to withstand 45mm diameter hail, and are sold here in Australia:

https://www.solarquotes.com.au/panels/suntech-review.html

In testing, Suntech panels withstand impacts from 45mm hail travelling at 30.7m/s (111km/h).  This is superior to many panels which are only certified to withstand 25mm hail travelling at 23m/s (83km/h).

I don't normally watch Sky News; however, stumbled upon the above on YouTube, watched most of it, and it just reconfirmed what I already know about them. The host, the interviewer; to me she looks "sly". I got caught by the click-bait title. Of course, everything posted above is just my opinion; make what you want of it -- that's my disclaimer.    

Tags: ethos

The USA has a new President

Here in Australia, we were watching from the outside; the election was a time to sit in front of the TV with drink and snacks. Entertaining, but very serious implications.

I rarely make a political blog post. Once or twice a year. Well, there was one about the US economy, in May 2024:

"The US economy and de-dollarization"
https://bkhome.org/news/202405/the-us-economy-and-de-dollarization.html

Not political exactly. There was a political post about misinformation on YouTube, in August 2023:

"Misinformation and more misinformation"
https://bkhome.org/news/202308/misinformation-and-more-misinformation.html

Making political posts is going down a rabbit hole. Better to stick with my custom trike project and EasyOS development posts.

However, I am motivated to post an observation, just before the US election. The media that we get here is, apart from Fox News, just about all pushing that the Democrats are the Good Guys. But, a strange thing happened...

I was watching Donald Trump being interviewed by Tucker Carlson on YouTube, then the next day, it was all over the news that Donald Trump was inciting violence against Liz Cheney. Kamala Harris announced that Trump should be barred from running to be President and prosecuted. Liz Cheney and others echoed the same.

My reaction was surprise. "Huh? that's not what Trump said." He was taken completely out of context. I saw why they did it; right before the election, they wanted to sway enough people to get them over the line. But it was low, a dirty shot.

Elon Musk commented on this, reiterating what Trump actually said. Can't find that right now, but this was the interview with Trump that caused the big stir:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtkHA9O_Mvo

And here is CNN's reporting:

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/01/politics/video/donald-trump-violent-rhetoric-liz-cheney-war-hawk-digvid

Quoting:

While campaigning in Arizona, former President Donald Trump told Tucker Carlson that former Rep. Liz Cheney is a "war hawk" and said she should be fired upon.

That is a complete misrepresentation of what Trump actually said, and is another contribution to me reconsidering everything that I had been fed by the media that dominates our news feeds in Australia.
I could post more about other observations that have put "chinks in the armour", so to speak, of who are "the good guys".

Ah, found it, Elon Musk's response to Trump's Liz Cheney comment (9:55 in):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl4VMD6lADg

Yeah, I know Trump is a narcissist, and lot more colourful words apply. He is going to shake things up; it is certainly going to be an interesting four years ahead.

While I'm in the mood of political commentary; I was shocked by the banning of all Russian contributors to the Linux kernel. Mostly I objected to the manner in which they did it, and the, what I thought to be disgusting, post in support of the ban given by Linus Torvalds. Some details posted here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4PMwpMGTdY

What worries me about this is that the USA is even able to weaponize open source GPL software. This is in addition to weaponizing the Dollar and control via various alliances. Oh yeah, and ...Barry, you had better stop, right now! Ending this post.

Ha ha, one final comment; there are hats available for sale in the US with "Kamala can be Indian again" printed on them. That is very funny. You would have to watch certain YouTube channels to understand that one.    

Tags: ethos

Kindness with Amy

I have been watching some of Amy's podcasts about veganism, on her "Kindness with Amy" YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@KindnesswithAmy-yd5nu/featured

I recently had a blood test. Don't like going to doctors, but wanted to get a professional opinion about my itchy skin. The skin is very sensitive, and if I scratch an itchy spot, it flares up. He prescribed a couple of products -- which didn't have any effect -- and also had a blood test. On the follow-up visit, he went through the test results and it was mostly very good.

I was quite impressed with the comment he made, "the test results are good, as expected from someone on a vegetarian diet". Not a comment that I would get from most doctors. I've been a vegetarian for over 50 years, a "lacto vegetarian"; that is, someone who also eats diary products such as milk and cheese. Also eat eggs sometimes.

There was just one test result that needs attention; cholesterol is a little bit high. We talked about what can be done to lower cholesterol, and first up, I decided to cut out the store-bought iced coffee. I had become addicted to this, drank it every day; apart from containing milk it is also has a lot of sugar. Went cold-turkey on that, now drinking just black coffee, one small cup per day.

We also had a discussion about causes of skin itchiness. Our water is heavily chlorinated and is a possible cause of skin irritation:

https://acaai.org/allergies/allergic-conditions/chlorine-allergy/

He also showed me that my skin is very dry, a possible indication of chlorine sensitivity.

He recommended water filters, both under the kitchen sink and also attached to the shower-head. I said that I could buy spring water in bottles, and he replied no, don't do that, as they are plastic bottles.

My place has an outside water tank, with runoff from the roof, but that tank is plastic. Sigh... But if the tank is flushed a few times, perhaps that will reduce plastic chemicals migrating into the water.

Anyway, regarding diet, reckon will move more toward the vegan end of the diet spectrum.     

Tags: ethos

Ten reasons not to move to China

I have posted about foreigners living in China, showing what it is like from the inside.

Lizzie is one of those. She is from South Africa and is teaching English in China. Her posts in channel "Because I'm Lizzie" are very positive about China; except for this one, "10 reasons NOT to move to China!". Ha ha, very frank, and I can relate to some of her posts. This is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqfSqb2tE_M

It is going back awhile, I visited India many times, the longest stay about 3 months. In regional areas, foreigners always attract attention, you are always the foreigner. I stayed with some Indian people in a regional city, and as my habit back in Australia, I was going for a daily walk -- until my hosts told me not to, as I was attracting attention. Like, people commenting, why is that foreigner snooping around, or words to that effect.

Lizzie has learnt Chinese. Ha ha, easier said than done! Mandarin is said to be one of the most difficult languages to learn. I'm reminded of an American living in China who posts business-related topics on YouTube. His channel is "Inside China Business". He gave up trying to learn Mandarin; said that no one could understand what he said. Here is his post "Welcome to Inside China Business":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMYDrtGgmtQ

...a short distance in, he explains about the language problem. Very interesting channel.   

Tags: ethos

The US economy and de-dollarization

The last political post to this blog was in August 2023, and a little bit before that I puzzled over why the USA hasn't become bankrupt:

• Misinformation and more misinformation — August 25, 2023
• When will the USA be bankrupt? — August 22, 2023

However, there was a more recent post about spin in YouTube channels that touches on international politics:

• Spin, spin and more spin — December 26, 2023

I'm still immensely puzzled over how the global economy works, and in particular how the USA survives given the huge foreign debt and budget deficit that just gets bigger year after year.

I've taken to watching Lena Petrova. She is a Chartered Accountant, so does have a few clues about what is really going on. She is predicting, basically, that for ordinary Americans there is going to be a steady decline in their buying-power, also infrastructure will continue to crumble, and social services will dry up.

A big question; do the leaders in the US Government understand the economic dangers they are facing? Lena posted this quite shocking interview with Jared Bernstein, the President's chief economic advisor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcxlWFSQnnU

...yikes!

I don't understand everything she says, but do try and pick up the salient points. I never came across her predicting a marked collapse of the US economy, or maybe I missed that video. However, recently she posted a talk by a Chinese economist, that not only predicts likelihood of financial collapse, but also sets a date; about 4 years from now.

Hmmm, I can't find that video. The talk is probably still there in one of her videos. What particularly interested me about the talk were the factors that might affect the outcome of the US economy; he said it depends on the the ability of the US to continue to "harvest" foreign countries.

That word "harvest" is startling. But yes, that is how the US survives, or so it seems from my understanding so far, the Dollar being the main medium of international transactions. Many countries and foreign entities are trying to de-dollarize international transactions.

On the topic of de-dollarization, here was another video, Lena again I think, quoting what Donald Trump will do if he becomes president. He has stated that he will go all-out to sanction any country that tries to de-dollarize. Found this though, from Palki Sharma:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTLHlAZnAis

There is something else that shocked me a little bit, though it shouldn't have. I have posted previously that George W. Bush committed war crimes by invading Iraq under the false pretext of "weapons of mass destruction". After that, amazingly, he got re-elected, which spoke volumes about the lack of truth in US media. Anyway, President Bush covered himself from being charged with war crimes by the International Court in Brussels:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le3noqdHnSA

...yikes again!

You might have contrary viewpoints to what is presented above. OK, I'm just posting this as something to think about, viewpoints that are probably different from what you get in the mainstream media.

EDIT 2024-05-11:
I found a YouTube video where that Chinese economist is giving a 4 year timeline for USA economic collapse, subject to various conditions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5VnpVs4Nx4

While searching for it, I stumbled across "Double Down News" channel. This Australian guy is posting how the Prime Minister of Israel, Netanyahu, was caught telling lies to President Biden, that Biden then repeated publically:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mxfnya3ZRc

Reminds me of another Aussie guy, Jerry Grey, residing in China, who has "Jerry's Take on China" channel. He got upset by ongoing Western media misinformation about China, so started the channel.

He counters the many who have accused him of being a "Chinese shill" on the pay of the CCP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9LUhxsAMDs 

EDIT 2024-05-17:
We have to be so careful; take everything we read and see online with a grain of salt.

I received an email from Paul. He carefully studied the video of the interview with Jared Bernstein, frame by frame, see Lena Petrova's video link above. He determined that it is clips cut out from some longer interview. It seems these clips have deliberately been done to show Mr Bernstein in a bad light.

I found a video where a guy said that yes, that is what has been done. However, I have not been able to locate the original longer interview.

The clipped video went viral and Lena found it somewhere. She has used it, which somewhat lessens my opinion of her. She doesn't show sources either.   

Tags: ethos